DA calls for probe after Public Service Commission DG appoints “alleged mistress” as ethics officer
28 January 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply angered and disappointed by revelations that the Director-General in the Office of Public Service Commission (PSC), Dovhani Colbert Mamphiswana, allegedly chaired a panel that appointed the mother of his child to the position of Chief Director for Ethics at the PSC.
Advocate Richard Sizani, the Chair of the Commission, must take immediate and decisive action to investigate these allegations. If the allegations are proven to be true, President Ramaphosa and his cabinet – which has the power to appoint and fire the Director-General of the PSC – must make an example out of him.
Mamphiswana’s alleged failure to recuse himself from the appointment process despite his glaring conflict of interest has plunged the PSC into a crisis of credibility. The Commission is not “just another” government agency – it is the watchdog over the entire public service and is supposed to enforce and abide by the absolute highest standards of ethics. It is vital that the government acts immediately to protect the PSC from the damage unleashed through Mamphiswana’s alleged misdeeds.
As our state continues to collapse, the ANC’s feeding frenzy has visibly accelerated in recent months. Over just the past month, we learned that the Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize, appointed his corruption-accused niece as chief of staff, and that Minister of Communications Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams allegedly abused taxpayer money to celebrate her wedding anniversary in Switzerland and New York. Meanwhile, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu also confirmed that she appointed the disgraced Menzi Simelane and Mo Shaik as advisers.